Crate Of The Month: 122TM

122TM Quick Review

By:

IrmaBecx

So it’s not every day you get to drive a brand new tank that no one knows anything about, and of course that novelty is what Wargaming use to sell you crates. I don’t endorse buying crates myself, but I felt the tank worthy of attention anyway. Consider this a preview for future consideration.

I’ve said before I don’ think I met a Chinese premium I didn’t like. I may not enjoy the aesthetic. I may not particularly want one. But I do like all of them. So naturally I had to find out if this one passes muster, especially since it’s one of those “heavy Mediums” I keep going on about.

I didn’t know anything about the 122TM; I thought it was a 105 mm gun, a sort of tier VIII 121B. But it turns out it’s a 120 mm, and it feels more like a main battle tank than a Medium tank.

DPM isn’t bad. Accuracy is atrocious, but overall the gun handling is fair. You are hitting them for 400 alpha, so it’s OK the gun is slightly more unwieldy. Penetration values are good, HEAT rounds make it a candidate for calibrated shells, which will give you almost 300 mm of penetration. It feels like a modern Heavy tank gun, perhaps of US or Brit origin, and out in the field I found it reliable except when it very “Chinesely” dumps the round straight into the ground, into a house, or sends it sailing just above the target off into the distance.

You could change the setup to supercharge and refined gun to try to extend your range, I might try that next.

The armour profile on the TM isn’t bad at all. Front plate is thicker than a lot of tier X Mediums, modernised, T-54-looking wok pan turret is nice and thick, and you also have wide tracks that are covered in spaced armour. It’s a rugged vehicle. Seven degrees gun depression just like your Hype 59 lets you utilise that front plate.

Where it falls down is mobility, again nothing new for a Chinese vehicle. I don’t think it’s all that heavy; be careful who you try to ram. It has that diesel engine feel to the acceleration, and you have a little over 30 degrees traverse; that’s really a Heavy tank number. Still, the armour tradeoff I think is worth it.

Like driving an early modern main battle tank, then. Hits hard enough to make Heavy tanks take notice. Will outtrade almost any Medium it will come across. And my first games out I get the impression it’s not just the type of tank that feels modern, but the style of vehicle in the game. Think of the Chimera for example, widely considered he best tier VIII premium Medium. Big guns are all the rage these days.

You will have to resign yourself to a less forward playstyle. Being so robust the 122TM will brawl fine one on one, but not one on two, or one on three with that longer reload.

Without being very complicated at all, the 122TM lends itself to an opportunistic playstyle. You look for positions where a hard hitting gun and a sturdy front plate may cause the most trouble for the enemy.

It does feel a little like driving a Heavy tank at times, it just doesn’t have that Medium tank agility. But again that’s fair enough considering the armour and firepower. I tried running the “sniper style” setup, and I think both are viable. I think however I’m going back to the GLD and Vstab with calibrated shells for that comfortable HEAT pen.

Comfortable, yeah. That’s how it feels. Like getting into a modern car after driving an old farm truck. It’s pretty easy to rack up 2000 damage or so, and don’t forget you have a big HE round for those flimsy opponents.

OK, so how powerful is it? Are we talking a new Chimera?

Yeah, maybe. It’s a similar style of tank, and it has similar strengths. I’d say it compares pretty well.

But it is a Medium tank, and it’s not going to break the game. If you’re not careful the armour isn’t going to hold up, you will have a longer reload than other Mediums, and most importantly you don’t quite have the mobility to be considered overpowered. I feel like this is a well balanced vehicle.

I also feel like this is a Chinese vehicle, and I do like it. It has typical Chinese strengths and weaknesses, it’s pretty simple to drive, and I find the 120 mm very comfortable to work with. It does remind me of the 121B in one way; it’s a slight variation on a familiar tank. This is a sort of variation on the T-34-2 and the T-34-3, and the latter especially I’ve put quite a few games on.

The former being of course one of the three best performing tier VIII tech tree Mediums.

So if you have a T-34-3 already, what does this one do better? It’s not a lot. It does reload a little faster, and standard penetration is better. You get APCR rather than AP if you consider that an advantage. Gun depression is better. It’s definitely more robust. More hitpoints, even.

But yeah, it’s not as fast, and it’s not as powerful. Mainly it doesn’t turn very quickly, and if that irritates you about Chinese tanks, give this one a miss. It really does move at what you call a leisurely pace.

The seven degrees of gun depression instead of five a lot of people are going to prefer.

Not the Chinese premium to rule them all, then? No, I think not. It is pretty similar to a lot of other Chinese tanks, and you might consider that a good thing or a bad one. If you enjoy the feel of Chinese vehicles, then this one has a lot features you will recognise. If you think Chinese tanks are boring because they are all the same, then yeah; this one is the same too.

Me, I choose to see the positives, and so the verdict is having met the 122TM I can still say I never met a Chinese premium tank I didn’t like.

Where does that leave us? Should you make an exception just this once and ruin yourself on crates?

No, of course not. But you might keep an eye out for this one in future, because it’s a nice little tank. Comfortable alpha damage, robust armour plating, and fairly easy to be successful in. It isn’t going to change your life, but it’ll be nice to have around. A real daily beater type of tank.

IrmaBecx says two thumbs up for this one.

Russian Light Tank Preview!

The Maus-fell-on-it Tank

By:

IrmaBecx

So a few weeks ago, I was driving the new Russian Light tanks on the test server where, fittingly, everyone speaks Russian.

I can’t tell you how excited I was. Not only is this a definite grind for me, but it also includes a tank I’ve been dreaming of would come to Blitz for ages. Outside of tier X, what I really care about is tier VII, and we are getting one of the most fantastic looking vehicles you could ever imagine.

Stalin’s magic carpet, the LTG!

It’s a paper tank, never made it past development. But it’s an early design even though it may strike you as futuristic, and it just looks so wrong. I don’t think there’s a right angle on the entire turret, and then they stuck an extra wheel on the face of it for good measure. “Quasimodo” they sometimes call it. Definitely a tank only a mother could love.

Well, and yours truly..

But wait, there’s more! There will be a brand new, Blitz specific tier IX, the Object 84. I do like a good tier IX tank, so that’ll be exciting. But at tier VIII it looks like we’ll have the same T-54 Lightweight, and honestly, what could ever replace it? Then at tier X we’ll get the T-100LT, which is basically a Light tank Object 140 that looks like a Maus fell on it.

The T-100LT was actually still in testing as I started writing this, so I have some prior experience with it. And of course everyone drives tier X on the test server, but I’m hoping to maybe get in a game with the tier VII and IX, we’ll see.

I can tell you one thing, unless there is a late addition tier VIII tank, this is going to be a really short grind. I did the Russian Light tank line back when it first dropped, I still have my MT-25, and I’ve put quite a few games on my Lightweight. That means I can unlock the tier VII and tier IX directly when the new line drops, and then all I have to do is grind out the tier X, or throw some of my by then surely three quarters of a million free XP at it.

Of course, I didn’t get in a tier VII game on the test server, but I did get to drive the LTG around a little, and I think it’ll be fine. It won’t replace the LTTB, it’s not that kind of Light tank. The only thing exciting about it is the camo rating, and of course it does have an 85 mm where a lot of the others have a 76, but in all it should prove to be a fairly unremarkable vehicle once introduced.

Except for the look, I mean. That’ll be legendary.

I’m sure you know about the T-54 Lightweight already, it’s a classic. We used to call it the best tier VIII Medium tank, and in spite of a bit of powercreep that’s still largely true if you disregard auto reloaders and big alpha Mediums.

I did get in a few tier IX games, and my immediate impression is the tier X T-100LT will eat the Object 84 for breakfast. Completely fair, of course. You get a box of angled armour plates with a turret on top that reminds me a little of the K-91 and is similarly shaped to get bounces.

It’s kind of short and stubby; not like those sleek T-54 variants. I can’t say I really go for the Object 84 look. But the drive is promising, although again nothing really stands out about this tank. It doesn’t have tier leading anything.

The T-100LT is going to be great, you can take my word for it. It’s a flattened out Russian Medium with camo on the move, and if you thought the Vickers Light had good camo, then the T-100LT, at least according to test server stats, is going to be better.

Then there is the controversial new camo mechanic that allows the tier IX and X tank to keep enemies spotted for 20 seconds if they tag them with a shell, and you may have heard it be criticised already. I agree the mechanic is too powerful, and what pains me a little is these tanks don’t really need it. You take a tuned up T-54 Lightweight and put it at both tier IX and tier X, how could you think that wouldn’t be enough?

So thus far my test server experience. I haven’t heard anything other than the new camo mechanic will be introduced in 8.7, but my personal feeling is that it isn’t going to last. It’ll be like the Sheridan, Pro players will have a field day exploiting it until Wargaming come to their senses and either tone it down or remove it.

And I’m all for that. We test most new tanks that are brought into the game on the live server, we’ve had some controversial features that aren’t in the game anymore, and we all made it through just fine. The game is going to keep changing and evolving, and if you think about it I’m sure you wouldn’t want it any other way.

If you don’t drive Russian Light tanks already, then it’s high time you did because you will want to get in on this action. I wrote about the MT-25, or at least I thought I did; I know I tested the 45 mm vs the 57 mm guns at one point and decided it’s really a matter of personal taste more than anything else. It’s actually one of my low-key favourites because it looks so endearing and is fun to drive. Really, the worst thing about it is you need to drive the boring T-34 to get one.

You’ll want 60 thousand XP on your MT-25 to be able to unlock the LTG on the first day, unless you have some sort of certificate. The way the tech tree looks you don’t actually have to get it if you did the other Russian Light tanks already, and it’s hard to argue for driving the LTG over the LTTB because hey, the name literally means “Light Tank, Heavy Armour”.

I have about a quarter of a million XP on my T-54 Lightweight which should be plenty for a tier IX tank. The official number given is 192.200 XP. The great thing is you can start grinding for the Object 84 beforehand, but if you’ve been playing a while, chances are you’ll have the T-54 Lightweight already, and unless you converted all that XP you’ll be all set. You’ll have two brand new tanks on the first day.

280.000 XP they want for the T-100LT, that’s a little over average, but you’ve saved an entire tier VIII tank’s worth getting there, so all in all it’ll be a fairly cheap grind.

If you haven’t been paying attention, the Object 84 and T-100LT will be able to keep enemy tanks spotted for 20 seconds if they mange to land a shell on them; any type of shell, and it only has to hit them; it doesn’t actually need to penetrate.

I think that’s too much, and it’s the sort of mechanic that experienced playes will immediately start implementing and newer players will struggle to even understand. The crucial piece of information is that the player hit by a tracer shell will see a different lightbulb on their screen. I’m sure you know what the regular one looks like, so if you see a different one you’ll need to count to twenty once you’re out of sight instead of ten.

We’ll see how it turns out. I can tell you one thing, campy TD players will absolutely hate this mechanic, and that puts me in a sort of moral dilemma.

If you look at the most popular tanks (number of players), you’ll have four campy TDs in the top ten, three of which are tier X tanks and one a tier IX. I’m sure you know which ones they are, it’s the ones you keep seeing out there. And if you look at the most played tanks (number of battles), three of those tanks are in the top five: the WT auf Pz. IV, the 183 “Skillstar”, and the Grille 15.

As much as it horrifies me a hundred thousand players drive the FV215b (183) every month, it horrifies me even more the number of games they put in: three million games during the last update. If you add the Waffle and the Grille, that’s eight millon games. You basically can’t stick your nose out of your garage without seeing at least one of the three, and very probably more than one.

I hate these tanks, I really do. I hate their playstyle, I hate losing to them, and I hate that they are everywhere. But the people who drive them are the ones that are truly going to hate this new tracer shell mechanic, and I kind of don’t feel bad about that. I figure if you sit at the back in your big, campy doom cannon twiddling your thumbs and waiting for that perfect shot while others do the actual job of spotting and tankigng damage, maybe you deserve to have your life made a little more difficult.

Of course, these tanks aren’t the only ones that will be affected; tanks that are already struggling at tiers VIII, IX, and X will be affected too. If that wasn’t the case I’d be saying twenty seconds isn’t enough, give them twenty five – thirty would be greedy, no? The 183 has about a twenty second reload anyway, it’s not enough punishment. I mean, these people don’t care about losing 60% of their games because they make their tanks more team dependent than they have to be, maybe they’ll care about exploding more?

Another tank that’s going to really hate the new spotting mechanic is the Sheridan. You know how that hull is only half as big as it looks and how it’s almost impossible to penetrate with HE shells? Well, if you manage to tag one it will at least be spotted longer now, even if you don’t do any damage to it. Maybe someone else will?

But that’s enough Schadenfreude I think. I do still think the tracer shells are too powerful, and I think we’ll se them modified or even removed in future.

Me, I’ll be out there first chance tomorrow taking advantage.

What about you? Is the T-100LT going to live up to the hype?

My answer is “yes”, and it has nothing to do with the tracer shells. I have driven two rounds of testing with it on the live server without the tracer shells, and the vehicle itself is solid. Just like the Vickers Light it’s not quite a Medium tank, and in a one versus one you are most often going to lose to them. But the T-100LT has a few bits of armour that actually work sometimes, it has just about Medium tank DPM; and when I say that I mean Russian Medium tank DPM, and it’s also going to have the best camo rating in the game.

The T-100LT is legit.

If you like Light tanks already, and you drive one or two of the others at tier X, it’s a no-brainer. If you enjoy the Object 140. If you like Light tanks but don’t actually drive them, you can safely go for the Russian option for your first one, it’s certainly no worse than the others. The tank is going to be competitive even if they remove the tracer shells, it won’t be a waste getting one. The only issue is you may find the gun depression uncomfortable, and if so just go for the Vickers instead.

Is the Object 84 and the T-100LT going to be overpowered?

In certain situations, yes. Just like some other tanks can be overpowered hull down on a ridgeline or simply sitting in a bush. But overall? No, I can’t see that.

My colleague made fun of me because I said I’d been dreaming about the T-100LT coming to Blitz, and I agree it sounds kind of sad to be dreaming about pixel tanks. But I really am excited, I still aspire to be a Light tank driver, I have the other tier X Light tanks except of course the Sheridan meme machine, and I think only Chinese Light tanks would have pleased me more.

Speaking of, is there room for more Light tanks in the game after this?

I think so, yes. First of all if you look at the British Light tanks, there’s no reason they would have to be the same tanks as on PC. And with more and more tanks in the game there is also more room for subtle acts of balancing, it’s not like we don’t have similar tanks in the game already, and people still manage to prefer one to the other.

But yea, in the best of all worlds, and you can tell that’s not this one because we have the Skillstar, these tanks might shake up the big armour/big guns meta a little, and I’d love to see that.

That’s about all I have until tomorrow. If you are a Light or Medium tank player, you should be looking forward to the update. If you like sitting in bushes, then maybe not so much.

In fact, now would be a good time to start quaking in your boots a little.

There are other things going on. If you are deep into your other grinds, or you don’t care about Light tanks, then maybe you’ll want to take a look at what’s happening in tier IX instead. A lot of tanks are getting rebalanced back and forth, so head over to either the offical Blitz news page or your favourite stat site, all the information will be there.

The new Russian Light tanks aren’t going to be for everyone. Me, I’m counting down the hours until they arrive.

See you out there.

Object 907, Soviet Mediums

Object 907 Evaluation and Soviet Mediums in general

By:

IrmaBecx

So you may have heard a new tank fell into my lap the other month, and it got me thinking about Premiums. I am saving up my gold hoping to get a good deal on a tier X tank, and the list isn’t all that long:

VK 90.01(P). AMX M4 mle. 54. And maybe the Object 907.

And of these three, the first two are pretty straightforward. A rear turreted German SuperHeavy with a properly German long gun, and a French hull down bruiser with the most powerful 130 mm in the game. But the third one? Note it says “maybe” in the above.

Let me try to explain why.

The Object 140 is my favourite tank in the game. Not my most driven. Not my most successful. My favourite. The one I am most proud of, and that makes me feel the most like myself when I’m driving it. We have a deeply emotional connection, my Object 140 and I.

And I wanted to like the Object 907. It’s arguably the most powerful Russian tier X Medium in that other game, and it’s one of those tanks I’ve been hoping would make the transition. But at the same time, it out-140s the Object 140 in two of the precise areas that make the Object 140 so good: mobility and camo rating.

But I mean, that’s OK. We want more tanks in the game, and sooner or later their capabilities will start to overlap. Also there are a few significant tradeoffs for these two advantages, the 907 has worse accuracy, worse DPM, worse armour, and it’s not as stable when firing on the move as the 140. But it does have one more degree of gun depression.

So it’s a similar tank. You trade a bit of armour and firepower for more speed and better camo. That sounds reasonable, no? And it kind of was right up my alley when I got to drive it in testing, but I just couldn’t seem to make real friends with it. Maybe my expectations were too high. Maybe I’m not clicking with the playstyle. Or maybe I’m just not playing to it’s strengths.

I want to like the Object 907, but I’m just not sure I do.

Reading through the stats, it’s pretty easy to see how the Object 907 differs from the 140 and the T-62A. We actually have four Russian Mediums a tier X now, and I think there’s room for at least two more: a rear turreted one and a 122 mm. Each of these tanks have their own flavour, and the 907 is certainly different enough to warrant it’s place in the game.

It’s just not my favourite. I will always like the 140 best no matter what happens, and I doubt very highly I’ll ever get a 62A. The T-22 Medium doesn’t interest me like it used to, and I don’t think I’d actually pay for it, but I wouldn’t kick it out of my garage.

What about the 907?

Well, maybe I wouldn’t mind having one. I don’t have anything against it. I’d rather have a 907 than a T-22, and now that I think about it, I would probably rather have a new Medium than a new Heavy, wouldn’t I? And if I did get a new Russian Medium, it would be this one, right?

Fast tanks are always fun, even when they’re difficult to play, and the 907 is the fastest Soviet Medium in the game, except of course for the T-54 Lightweight. I didn’t feel like I quite got the hang of it in testing, so it has things to teach me for sure.

This is how you talk yourself into dropping the gold on a new tank. I know it’s coming, and I’ve been saving up as I said. Maybe the 907 is the tank I’ve been saving up for? The more I think about it, the more sense it would make.

Fortunately, I don’t have to sit here and dream. I could just log in to my press account and kit out the loan vehicle, and then I’ll put it through it’s paces.

So here’s the thing. I started writing this back in december when I thought the 907 bundle was going to come out, but then I guess it got pushed forward, and so I pretty much forgot about it. I did drive a few games on the press account, but it’s hit and miss, you know?

So anyway, that means I’ve had plenty of time to consider the proposition of the Object 907, and the more I thought about it, the more sense it made to me. The Russian Light tanks are coming, and the natural predator of the Light tank is the Medium tank. Of course, if you’re going to take on the T-100LT in a Russian Medium, you’ll probably want to be in the 140 or the 62A because they actually have more DPM than the Light tank; the only thing the 907 brings to the table is gun depression and being a little more robust.

But yeah, I’ll be driving fast and light for the Motherland before long anyway, so why not mix it up with a little Medium tank gameplay? You can probably tell I’ve sold myself the tank already, can’t you?

Does that mean you should sit up and take note also?

No, not necessarily. What you should have done if you want a premium Soviet Medium at tier X is buy the T-22 Medium in the holiday auction. And if all you want is a fragile but mobile and hostile Russian Medium, then there are two very good options in the tech tree already, there’s no need to spend twenty thousand gold. And you know; the 907 is no T-22, it’s not going to become a hugely popular vehicle unless something drastic happens, and so you can probably expect prices to drop significantly with time.

For me though? I have almost all the tier X Mediums already; certainly all the ones that truly interest me, and so the Object 907 would round out my collection pretty nicely.

I mean, what else would I spend my gold on?

If you know Medium tanks, and Russian Mediums in particular already, there are a few things about the 907 that are going to disappoint you.

First of all it fires about a third of a second slower than the tech tree tanks; I’m sure you know that can be an eternity in a tight spot. Second, it easily has the worst armour of any of the Soviet Mediums, and all you have to make up for it is mobility and camo rating. It does have the best camo rating of any tier X Medium, but no one seems to think that’s a real asset.

It also has the worst accuracy of the bunch, and it’s the least stable when firing on the move. If you’re used to your Object 140 hitting weakspots doing full speed drivebys, then the 907 is going to feel like a real letdown. But at least they won’t see you coming, right?

So what you have is a fast and stealthy tank, but you’ve paid fairly dearly for it in terms or armour and firepower. Oh, and you go faster backwards than the other tanks, but again people don’t usually consider that an advantage so much as a curiosity.

Okay, but if I want a fast and stealthy tank from beyond the iron curtain, why wouldn’t I just grind out the Object 140?

There’s no good argument against that. You would just grind out the Object 140. But then some of the exact things that make you like the 140 you can get a bit more of in the 907, and if you understand the 140 playstyle that’s going to make you a better 907 driver too.

I’ll say one thing, the Object 907 certainly looks good. It’s a few more days until the bundle drops so I’ve logged into the press account to drive a few games and try to delude myself I’m not making a gigantic mistake even considering this tank.

First game out the red team doesn’t have any Mediums on Malinowka. I cap the base uncontested and then drive straight for their 183, which goes down in seconds. Then I drive straight into the herd to take out a low health tank and try to get them turned around so my team can blast them, but by then I don’t have a team anymore; they’ve already broken through and it’s just a matter of cleaning up.

This is the good news/bad news of Medium tanks these days. Sometimes having a Medium advantage means you can establish map control and push the reds into a corner. Other times it just means a Heavy tank disadvantage, and you’re already 7 on 6 so to speak when the match starts.

Next game we have a pro toon in a Vickers Light/VK 90 on the reds, and it’s that new map with the houses in the middle. I figure if we don’t go left towards where A cap usually is we’ll get slaughtered, but out other Medium calls right, and I sort of shrug my shoulders and roll with it. Our Light tank does go left, but bravely turns around to flee after spotting the entire herd in that corner.

Meanwhile we have found a Kranvagn Nidhögg behind a house, and even without adrenaline we are talking almost 7000 DPM being unleashed on the poor Swede; that’s almost three Kranvagns a minute, and consequently it’s down in around 20 seconds. Behind it is the VK 90, having expected us from the other side and now taking fire from the rear and trying to angle up against two Soviet Mediums simultaneously while we pepper it’s weakspots.

It’s a classic lesson in Medium tank superiority: work together on the flank and focus fire, hit the slow and dug in tanks from the back and sides, put them in a crossfire with your main force.

“IRMA PERKELE” someone shouts. I can only agree, it’s a hell of a game. I fail to pen two of my overpowered Russian HE rounds on a Grille XV, taking a shot full in the face to do it, but I actually bounce two dead certain kill shots on just a sliver of heath just before the cavalry arrives, and I manage to collect myself enough to hit the last shot on the Vickers Light for the win.

I’ve said before that the Medium tank nerf paradoxically made Medium tanks more important, because they still have capabilities that Heavy tanks and TDs simply don’t have. You can’t hide a Heavy tank the way you can an Object 140, and you can’t make it go as fast as a Leopard. In some situations those things are going to make all the difference

Back in the day, you would roll up on the centre hill on Malinowka and hide in a bush while you lit up the entire red herd of Heavy tanks trundling their way towards the windmill, and then watch the rounds come raining in from the rest of your team. That’s the sort of gameplay you dream about in the object 907, because it’s not a brawler, and it’s not a sniper, it’s just a regular Medium tank.

I’ve struggled to make this point before about the Object 140. The reason I say it’s better than the T-62A is that it’s better at being a Medium tank. People just don’t understand what I mean, they keep repeating the T-62A is better because it just is better. Never once have I heard a convincing argument why; I ask “explain to me how” and they say “it just is”.

And then I say the Object 140 outperforms the T-62 by a small margin in terms of average winrate, and it has for the longest time. That’s just because better players choose the Object 140 they say, it’s not because it’s a better tank.

You mean to tell me that the reason the T-62A has been buffed is that Wargaming are simply too dumb to realise only the very best quality players in the game ever drive the Object 140, and it should therefore be balanced accordingly? So they made the T-62A better by accident? Or they do understand only the absolute cream of the crop drive the 140, and therefore they have purposely made it much worse than the T-62A?

There has arguably been one buff. Note I say ”arguably”, and it’s all about bench racing. But then bench racing does explain all the strengths of the 140, just not how to actually use them. The Object 140 got AP rounds instead of APCR the same time the T-62A got seven degrees of gun depression, but retained the tier-leading shell velocity. That means that over distance, the 140 will normalise better than the 62A, and so in theory it should penetrate more often. But then the 62A has better accuracy, better penetration, and better aimtime, so…

Where does the 907 fit in to all this?

Well, it’s the fastest, most agile, and stealthiest of the three as I said, but I don’t think it’s the best. Ironically, the numbers seem to suggest otherwise. With by far the least amount of drivers, the 907 outperforms the T-22 Medium by one percent and the 140 by four percent. The 140 likewise outperforms the 62A by one percent. That’s about the size of it.

You can interpret this in several ways.

One, the 907 is the best Soviet Medium tank in the game.

Two, only the very, very top of the line and most excellent players drive the 907.

Three, the 907 is the fastest Soviet Medium, and speed is a very powerful advantage.

Four, the 907 is a rare tank, and the sample is way too small to draw any definite conclusions. It’s possible the sample is skewed in some manner, and that’s why we are seeing these competitive looking numbers: 58% plus winrate, 2250 average damage, and even a 40% survival rate.

Diving deeper into the numbers, as of update 8.5, the most OP Russian Medium is the T-22 with a relative winrate of plus one. That is followed by the 907 with plus one half, and then both tech tree tanks have around minus one half. If you don’t know what “relative winrate” is, it’s just the vehicle’s winrate compared to the winrate of the player who’s driving it. So if you’re a 55% player, you’ll average 56% in the T-22 Medium, but only 54.5% in the T-62A.

Whichever way you choose to look at it, there’s more to the Object 907 than meets the eye. On paper it looks like the weakest of the niche, but the numbers, although they should be viewed with caution, actually suggest it’s among the strongest.

I would be inclined towards interpretation number three: speed is a powerful advantage. But it’s also an advantage that’s difficult to take advantage of; no pun intended, and you all know that four letter word in the back of your mind. Points for both four letter words, as one is most often followed by the other.

If you are an incorrigible yolo-artist, then the Object 907 is exactly the kind of tank you want to be in. It looks flash; especially wearing the “Ruthless” legendary camo, it’s light and powerful, and it explodes nicely when hit by massive shells. But even if you are Pro, I think the 907 is going to be a pretty hard sell for the majority of players.

As if to underscore that point I get three disheartening losses in a row, and am about to have a fourth one on Canals. I go D with our AMX Corsica against a Vickers CR and a 121B. Our AMX is taken out almost immediately by a 183, and all of a sudden I am surrounded by four or five tanks, so I have to retreat towards the centre, hiding behind bridge and trying to both keep the reds spotted for my team and not get taken out.

In the end I manage to hold them off until they flank me, and then I retreat behind my team, going the long way around to try to take out the Vickers and claim the D cap, because they have two to our one. Failing to reset my camo I take a fatal shot trying to cap. It’s down to the wire, the 121B with a cap advantage is running away from a T57 Heavy, but gets spotted out in the open and our driver actually aims the shot.

This is kind of what you can expect; this type of either/or gameplay.

And I am warming up to the 907 a little, because it fights like a demon when cornered, it flies across the terrain like the howling wind, and I hate to say it, but yes: seven degrees if quite comfortable in a lot of situations. I would have taken six on this tank.

But is this simple vanity or is it actually building my collection? I’m sure you know I have a lot of tanks I don’t actually drive but like having around, or that I say I’m going to get around to some day.

You know, when I “Git Gud”.

The only selling point I can stand behind 100% is that just like the AMX 30 B, the Object 907 is a perfect vehicle to keep that dream alive in. Because you have to know what you’re dong when you drive it, you’re not going to get a lot of bounces, you can’t side scrape anything larger than a Light tank gun; indeed you can’t even sidescrape a Light tank gun, it’s just not a tank that gives you anything for free. And it’s fast but it’s not that fast, the E 50 M does 60 too and has the same nominal specific power.

And yet here I am wanting to drive it again, and I know that in a couple of days I am going to drop 20.000 gold on the plain jane version and hope to get a good deal on the “Ruthless” camo down the line so it’ll match my 140 “Terror”.

I could have dropped a large chunk of my gold on the LT-432, which would have made a certain amount of sense since the Russian Lights are coming. But I really think I’ll get more mileage out of a tier X tank, even one as fragile as this. You hear me making all these excuses for myself?

I bought the AMX 30 B last holiday season, and if I’m honest I haven’t driven it that much. I do drive it, but not as much as my WZ-111 5A, or even my new Object 260. And I think that’s fair enough, because it is the type of tank you kind of have to be in the mood for, and that mood does strike me from time to time. I’m expecting the 907 will be about the same, and that’s OK.

Tomorrow is the day. Unless something happens the bundle is going to drop, and I’ll be logged in and waiting for my prize.

Or will I? Driving five games just now I lose four of them, which hardly seems encouraging. I keep meeting red teams that plow straight through mine, and I’m not exactly being an asset except for a round of initial spotting.

The Object 140 and 907 were actually competing designs for replacing the T-54, both started in 1953. A 100 series number means Uralvagonzavod as you may know, and 900 series should mean Stalingrad Tractor Factory, but the designer is often listed as “Design Bureau No. 100”; I’m not sure if they are one of the same. Either way the 907 was cancelled due to it’s complexity, and while the 140 was actually built, it was abandoned too in 1958.

And being 5 wins and 9 losses so far today, I can kind of see why they never built the 907. Well, they built the hull and it did some tests around 1955, but they decided the whole thing was just too complicated. It is complicated to drive; there’s just so many things that can go wrong.

So far today I’ve been outtraded by T92 Light tanks, taken a max roll from a 183 straight through the side that wrecked all my modules, killed most of my crew, and set me on fire, and I’ve been chased down by almost avery kind of Medium tank you care to mention plus an AMX 50 B.

Why is this happening? I can tell you I am very grateful right now for having access to a press account so I can try to figure these things out. It might well have been I had gotten tired of the struggle by now and decided to spend my gold on something else, but curiously all the difficulties I’m having seem to only strengthen my resolve to buy the Object 907.

There are still a number of hours left before I have to decide.

Nothing teaches you about the failings of a vehicle like driving it on the night shift. The 907 is a tank people know is kind of a pushover in a 1 v 1, because the armour is pretty thin, and for the same reason whey will often throw a shell in your direction no matter which tank you think they should be shooting at, because a lot of higher caliber guns will simply overmatch in a lot of places.

I keep driving, pulling off a win by simply doing hull down work and focusing fire on the Middleburg hill. But then it’s back to losing by thousands, and having hit the 50 game mark on the loan vehicle, I am running a 42% winrate. You have to agree that’s not super impressive. A couple or more games doesn’t change a lot, it’s still below 50%.

I’m zoning out watching HisRoyalFatness showcase the 907, trying to summarize my impressions. You have to be looking for those hull down positions, because that’s the only way your armour is going to hold up. I actually switched to calibrated shells, because the DPM is low as it is, and so perhaps it’s better to make the shots actually count.

That’s about all I’ve got. Six pages now, and I feel like I’m back where I started.

Ten minutes ago I pressed the button. Just coming back from my first game out, and of course it was a disaster. I roll up on B cap and catch the Sheridan shell on my gun barrel, but it’s all downhill from there. Our other Medium is nowhere to be found, and they basically just drive straight past us. Without the centre on Canyon we quickly lose the match.

Next game I have the hill all to myself on Dead Rail with a Grille supporting, and I pump out over 3000 damage for a convincing win. It’s like Fatness said; sometimes the tank is really powerful, and others it’s a complete letdown, especially the main armament.

I’m missing the “Ruthless” legendary camo from the press account, I really am. And since there’s a more expensive bundle, they’re not going to try and sell it to me just yet. Not that I have the gold right now anyway. Still running the calibrated shells so I can get that 330 HEAT penetration, but I am a little worried about the DPM. We’ll see how I do.

Otherwise, I’m running the same setup as on other Mediums: improved assembly, engine accellerator, and high end consumables. I had the thought I might run some sort of protective kit since the 907 is pretty fragile, but I don’t really want to give up the double food and super fuel. Also thought about adrenaline instead of the turbo boost, but the strength of the 907 is speed, not firepower.

In the end it doesn’t matter. I take three more sound beatings and now I’m down to the same 20% winrate I started out with on the press account. But yea, I wanted to be a 907 owner, and now I am one. I knew it was going to be a bit of a struggle.

But when you keep getting killed early with low damage, then very clearly you are doing something wrong. I am I think playing to one strength but not to the other, and I’m not listening to my own advice. You know, the one about people throwing shells after you on the off chance? I’m clearly spending too much time out in the open and making bad trades, because if I didn’t I’d stay alive longer and do more damage.

More cautious gameplay, then. Let’s give that a go.

To amuse myself I try to get rated, and my plan to take it easy goes straight out the window. I manage to win 6 out of 10 with 1500 average damage, landing me at 3020 rating; or just over the gold league limit. I don’t think that’s all that bad for such a tricky drive, but I can tell you I had to work for it, and it didn’t feel like I won more than I lost.

Two more games ironically turn out to be one that’s completely hopeless, where everything goes wrong and everyone shoots at me; a convincing 5000 damage loss, and the other an absolutely amazing one where I spot B on Overlord and then sort of hang around there, capping A, poking shots at a big TD using my superior camo and being chased around by a Yoh tank, but using my mobility to outplay them, and after a while I realise it’s just the two of them left and the rest of my team are on their way.

I’ll tell you one thing. If anyone tries to tell you being able to go 25 km/h backwards is not a real asset, then feel free to snigger at them knowingly. Not a lot of these big, lumbering Heavys and TDs can keep up when you get in close to them.

What you want to watch out for are fast Heavys, and especially out on the flanks. They can chase you down, and they basically only have to tag you to do damage if you are running away from them. It’s better to run away beforehand and try to remain unspotted. The camo rating is good, you can tanke that to the bank.

But yea, the thing will give you gray hairs. It’s the epitome of the high risk/high reward tank. And I know that’s what’s going to keep me coming back to it; indeed what has been keeping me coming back to it these last few days on the press account. At it’s best, there is nothing like this tank in the game. At it’s worst, you’re wondering what it’s doing at tier X.

And somehow, that’s about what I wanted from it. I didn’t need another Soviet Medium. I knew it was going to be a tricky drive. And I wanted one anyway, because I want that high stakes gameplay. I want to either fail miserably or win triumphantly, and in that regard if nothing else the Object 907 delivers in spades.

I think it looks cool. I like the whole idea of it. It’s the first thing I want to drive when I log in to the game right now. Between the 260 and the 907 I think I’m turning seriously communist in my tank driving.

But I also think that’s quite enough rambling, it’s time to sum up.

This is the first time the Object 907 is being sold outside of crates, and it’s an expensive bundle. As it is I think you can expect to pay maybe 15.000 for one inside a year. I am seeing a few of them out there. That makes me happy, and it shows there are drivers out there who appreciate the things the 907 has to offer.

Since it’s so agile it brawls a lot better than I expected, and you are going to have to fight tooth and nail. It doesn’t have a reputation for being robust; people already know it’s the worst armoured of the Soviet Mediums, and they aren’t shy about chasing it down.

The way to deal with that is of course to not stray too far from your team. When you get pushed, you head straight for your teammates hoping they will want to shoot at your pursuers.

And I have gotten away by the skin of my teeth in a number of situations, I have bounced huge TD shells off the turret and upper plate, and sometimes I’ve even won the game.

But the 907 playstyle isn’t super easy to figure out. Spending the weekend with it I am starting to feel a little more confident, but I’m still dropping winrate. And really, if I can’t get my Object 140 to win, why would I be able to win in the 907? It’s definitely a demanding drive, and if you haven’t driven the other Soviet Medium tanks then I think you’re really going to struggle to make this one work.

Still, for some reason I’m not sorry I bought it. It’s a lovely tank, nothing else quite like it when it works, and I did have some fantastic games.

However. Unless you are an elitist tank degenerate like I am, and you’ve been jonesing for the 907 specifically for some time now, I think you’ll be quite safe to hold off a little while and wait for a better offer. ISurely the fewer tanks that are sold, the faster the price is going to drop?

But yea, if you want to ruin yourself on what is basically a tier X T-54 Lightweight minus the Light tank camo and moved up two tiers, I completely understand.

IrmaBecx says listen to your heart on this one.

Help! I Have An Object 260!

Object 260 Update

By:

IrmaBecx

So I got a new tank. It fell out of one of those snow globes, I got a couple for free from Wargaming. I’m saving my gold for a good deal on some tank I’ve been wanting, and my free XP for the upcoming Russian Light tank branch; I’m going to be an early adopter again.

But yea, the 260. It was on sale recently, first time outside of crates, and I wrote about it. Said I wouldn’t mind having one, and now I do!

I remember liking the Object 260 the moment I saw it, because it’s so obvious what it is: A prototype IS-7. And you may know I endorse the IS-7 but don’t like it, and so I wasn’t really surprised I fell pretty hard for the original prototype; same as I love the 140 but not the T-62A.

It’s not really all that different. The 260 is still one of those overgrown Medium tanks; it does 50 on the straights, t’s light on it’s feet for such a big tank, and you get perhaps the second best 122 mm weapon in the game after the M62-T2.

Not going to lie, part of what attracts me to the 260 is the fact it’s not an IS-7. But also, the tradeoffs from the tech tree vehicle make the tank an even better fit for me: more mobility, more firepower, and a little less armour.

Lovely.

The great thing about the IS-7 is it’s so easy to drive. That is also the reason I never liked it – it’s so easy to drive it gets boring to me really quickly, and let me tell you I’ve done a lot of IS-7 testing over the years. You can practically point it at the enemy, drive straight forwards while mashing the fire button, and a lot of the time that’s going to work. All you have to do is angle up straight because you have a pike nose.

The Object 260 can’t quite do that. It can certainly bully Medium tanks, but you can’t just drive straight into the crowd and expect not to get wrecked.

So pretty mobile for a Heavy tank. It’s like they moved the armour plating from the hull to the turret front, reminiscent of the Chinese Heavys. I will say I spend quite a bit of my hitpoints pushing forward, but hey; I’m not a Heavy tank driver. In spite of that I actually have eight tier X Heavy tanks now, and I do enjoy my rowdy brawlers. But in spite of a healthy dose of Russian bias, brute force isn’t the way to drive his tank.

It’s a Heavy tank, sure. You can hull down with your strong turret and hold a position, you can angle up your sides and scrape a few corners, you can eat big HEAT rounds with your tracks and your strip of spaced armour. But the interesting thing is of course what the Object 260 does especially well compared to other tanks, because armour isn’t one of those things.

It’s fast for a Heavy, that’s a definite advantage. It also has almost 3000 DPM with a rammer, but then I said it was perhaps the second best 122, and the reason I rank the M62-T2 higher is it has 340 HEAT pen stock where the 260 has like 310. Perhaps the Chinese 60-122TA should also rank higher, it has best in tier DPM.

So the thing is do you want to boost your DPM, or do you want more comfortable penetration values?

As is often the case, the Object 260 shows a conspicuous lack of weaknesses. This is the essence of Russian bias. Everything about it is pretty good. Sure, the pike nose makes it a little harder to side scrape, but that’s nothing compared to the accuracy, firepower, and agility of this vehicle. You can’t really call having to know your armour profile and angle up properly a drawback, can you?

The fun way to drive the 260 is to try to take advantage of that agility and firepower, without having to rely too much on the armour. That means going out on the flanks or playing close fire support, both take advantage of mobility. And if you find you get a lot of side shots, then perhaps you could get away with running the rammer instead of calibrated shells.

It’s fast enough to do a few Medium tank jobs, but make sure you make the right calculation. Can your team afford having one Heavy tank leave the pack, or will they be unable to hold the line without your help? And is there a good reason for going the Medium route, are you likely to win that side of the map?

Even if you just do standard Heavy tank jobs with your 260, you will appreciate these advantages, they make everything a little bit easier and more comfortable.

I drive a couple of games to reacquaint myself, and the 260 is still a great drive. If I am going to drive a Heavy tank, then this is the style I want.

And there are a couple of games where nothing works out. The armour profile especially starts showing it’s limitations, but overall I’m still very happy. It’s not just a free tank, but a free tank that I’ve been wanting.

The thing about the 260 is you can get involved. It’s fast enough to switch flanks, to go for the early cap, to get in position and be ready for the first shot. The 122 mm is a bit Russian, but it depends on what you compare it to. Compared to a British or American Heavy tank, it’s decidedly jumpy and inaccurate. But compared to the IS-7, IS-4, or even the AMX M4 54, it’s a wonder of stability and accuracy. Just remember to yell Rasha! once in a while.

The turret armour is thicker than the IS-7, but it’s not as efficiently shaped. This is what is called a shot trap turret, and against a high penetration standard round, it will look patchy. The good news is if they load the gold rounds, the turret will still look just as patchy. It won’t simply clear up the way an E100 turret will.

From straight ahead on flat ground, the pike nose is showing 240 mm effective. You need 5 degrees outside angle to start approaching 300 degrees, and at 10 degrees it goes to autobounce. That’s really not a lot of angling you need for juking back and forth. Side scraping you should be safe out to 20 degrees, but you will need to expose your front plate to get a shot off, and it’s a straight shot into your ammo rack, unless you are showing your right side, in which case there is a huge fuel tank in front of it next to the driver.

Six degrees of gun depression is the same as the other Soviet style Heavys except the 5A. If you want more gun depression, don’t drive Russian tanks. I don’t mind it at all; a lot of my favourite tanks have six degrees.

But yea, being a sort of flanking support vehicle will tend to make you slightly team dependent. You can’t run with the Mediums if the Mediums don’t run, and you can’t support the push there is no push. Conversely, you also have the obligation to be a team player; to make up for the fact you are not a wall of steel SuperHeavy by good positioning and forward thinking gameplay.

The Object 260 is not a tank that single handedly wins games. But it is a tank that can be extremely instrumental towards the win.

I think you will have figured out by now I really like this tank. Back in March i grinded out the IS-4 so I would have something powerful to drive on the night shift, and I’ve actually ended up driving it more than I thought I would. I always kind of liked it, and it was everything I thought it would be.

The 260 I knew I would like, I just didn’t know I was going to get one. Being tight fisted with the gold these days, but then there aren’t a whole lot of tanks out there I am in the market for. We are talking a handful of premiums. And in fairness the 260 was not at the top of my list, there are others I would sooner have spent my hard earned gold on. There is also no way the Object 260 is going to replace the amazing WZ-111 5A as my favourite Heavy tank, but it’s a really nice addition to my collection.

Driving it just now on Overlord I rush to cap D, and then get stuck fighting over C. I put in a few shots, but then see the reds have capped A and are moving in against our campers, so I break off and rush there hoping to keep them alive. We make short work of the flank, I cap A, and then move up towards C, hitting the enemy from the back while our VK 72 makes a heroic last stand, and then it’s just the cleanup left.

I didn’t do more than 2K damage or so, but i did that damage in the right place and at the right time. If I had been in my new 60TP I would have had to stay fighting the dug in Heavys, and it’s possible we would have been flanked and lost the game.

Freedom of movement. The faster your tank moves, the more possibilities lie open to you.

My IS-4 does perform better, and we shouldn’t be surprised. It’s much more robust, and it’s easier to angle up. But it’s not vastly superior; the 260 does a few things better, and for the moment at least I enjoy driving it more. I always did like a pike nose tank.

Just like last time, I should say that what makes me really like the Object 260 may in fact be things that count against it from your perspective. I realise it’s hard to argue that not being as strong as the IS-7 is somehow a benefit, and you may not like giving up armour plating for mobility. But there are undeniable strengths: speed is a powerful advantage, 3000 DPM is good for a tier X Heavy, and 0.31 is accurate for a Heavy tank gun. I’m not going to call it refined or sophisticated, but compared to a lot of other Russian tanks, it’s not quite as crude.

That is not to say there is anything very complicated about it. You can hide behind a ridgeline all game, or do other generic Heavy tank type things. But that would be selling it short; a fast Heavy like this wants to stretch it’s legs a little. It wants to go out there and get involved.

And that is what resonates with me. I want to get involved too, and the 260 is a great tank to be doing it in. That’s really all you need to know. I will say the Object 260 takes a little experience to drive, it doesn’t have training wheels like a lot of other Russian tanks have.

It’s not every day you wake up to a brand new Russian tier X Heavy tank in your garage, but of course the first game out was a disaster. Overall though, I’m doing pretty well in the 260, a little over my global average.

My WZ-111 5A had a birthday, so I rolled out in that for a bit of comparison. Rushed the cap on Dead Rail, got blocked by an E100 and took a couple of big hits, but side on to a Lewandowskiego I’m just glad it didn’t explode my ammo rack, and we did win the game.

Why do I like the 5A so much better? For one thing it’s very recognisably a Chinese tank, and there’s a lot more to it than being a knockoff IS-7. It’s light on it’s feet because it has armour where it counts, seven degrees of gun depression is very comfortable in a segment where six is the norm, and it has that upper plate that’s halfway between pike nose and flat.

Being an early adopter of the Hype 59 and 62 I prefer the Chinese look, but I do have a soft spot for classic Soviet brutalism; the wicked angles and smooth turret of the Object 140, the bare faced directional pragmatism of the Object 263, and yes; the confident angularity of the Object 260.

The reason I am talking about aesthetics is that in actuality these tanks are pretty similar, and choosing a Warsaw pact Heavy tank therefore has more to do with secondary considerations. Things like look, and feel, and nuance.

So what I enjoy about the 260 is how it feels, because it doesn’t feel entirely Russian. When you hit that turret hatch going full speed, that’s reassuringly biased-feeling, but otherwise it’s just a little bit more… well, fresh and lively than I expected. And this fact alone is why I keep coming back to it and why I will never again think about getting an IS-7.

As a potential acquisition however, the Object 260 has one big problem. It’s sort of… plain, this in a segment where you can find all kinds of strange and wonderful vehicles, and most of them in the tech tree. Even limiting ourselves to premium and collector tanks, it’s up against some stiff competition. There are no fewer than eight to choose from in the Heavy tank segment alone, so what is the rationale for choosing the proto-IS-7?

It’s highly mobile and has good firepower? And… uh… it looks like an IS-7? You have to admit that doesn’t sound very exciting unless you are a total IS-7 freak. Really, if you don’t like the Bias-7; if you think the gun handling is too sketchy, the reload is too long, and it’s a little too sluggish, you might actually be more inclined to appreciate the strengths of the 260.

Would I have bought this tank on my own?

Yes, sooner or later. It’s exactly my type of Heavy tank. And make no mistake, having good mobility and good firepower may not be super original in terms of strengths, but let me tell you it never gets old. Fast is fun. These strengths have lasting appeal.

I thought I was finished with Heavy tanks for a while before this one fell into my lap, but it looks like I’m not. I put several dozen games on my new 260 already, and I started driving both my Chinese ones too.

So what’s the bottom line?

Well, the Object 260 may not be the most extravagant vehicle in the game, but it is a very solid proposition. It’s a workhorse, the kind of tank that turns into a daily driver and a favourite. It doesn’t really do anything special, and certainly nothing you couldn’t find in the tech tree, but it shows a conspicuous lack of serious weaknesses, and being so mobile makes it an enjoyable drive.

It’s two thumbs up from me. This is a very nicely balanced vehicle, and I’m thoroughly enjoying driving it. IrmaBecx says if all you’re looking for is a 122 mm and a bit of bias, then the Object 260 may be just the ticket. Not a must-have, but a really great tank.

So it’s the new round of auction tanks, and as it happens the WZ-111 5 is on sale. The T-22 Medium is gone already, but there are still well over 3000 WZ’s left.

And faced with the choice between the WZ 5A and the 260, I would go Chinese every time. I love the solid punch of the 130 mm, the kaleidoscope upper plate, and the fact it’s fairly light on it’s feet. A very well rounded vehicle that can do most anything as long as you use the armour properly.

So is it a better IS-7?

No. The gun handling is noticeably sharper, but it has 200 hitpoints less and the armour is thinner. The old Bias beast wins out on pure, stubborn robustness. But the 5A is a little more flexible, and if you tear your hair out at the fickle IS-7 gun, you will find the Chinese equivalent more comfortable.

This may sound like simplifying things, but there really isn’t a lot more to it than this. The 5A is the same style of tank as the IS-7 and the 260 in a slightly different flavour; one that I personally much prefer, but the IS is still the king of brute force and Bias.

But yea, if you appreciate the subtleties of dynamic Heavy tank driving, you like short flanking and brawling Mediums, then I would encourage you to give the 5A your consideration. I put over 400 games on mine so far, and it most definitely has the tank philosophy seal of approval.

As a complement to my favourite tier X Heavy, the Object 260 is in all cases a great addition to my collection, and it has nullified any inclination I might have had to acquire the production version. I can still drive it on the press account, and no doubt I will have to sooner or later when someone inevitable proclaims the death and obsolescence of the IS-7 again, and I have to do some research so I can tell everyone that’s crazy talk, again.

Polish Heavy Tank Grind Part 2!

The Lewandowskiego

By:

IrmaBecx

So as I’m starting this, I’m still working away at getting the 60TP Lewandowskiego, and I caught myself thinking why, exactly? I’m not a huge fan of big guns, sitting at the back, and waiting to land that perfect max roll.

And a 150 mm or thereabouts Heavy tank isn’t new in the game, we have two already. The thing is I never liked the E100 and I much prefer the VK 90 to the VK 72, so when the 60TP appeared on the horizon I was curious about it, because it actually looks like a proper tank; not like a huge cardboard box or a huge Löwe that drove into an underpass without seeing the maximum height warning sign.

There is no question the 60TP will add something new to my garage, which is one of my considerations before I commit to a grind. It’s not simply the latest thing; it’s something completely new to me, even without those special consumables.

In the case of the Swedish Heavy tanks, as far as I recall the speedboost was added but the top speed was nerfed to balance the tanks out a little. I’m not sure that’s what’s going on here, I drove the 60TP in testing without any fancy consumables and it seemed to work just fine.

After 40-odd games in the tier IX 50TP I’ve clawed my way up to 50% winrate, and I’m quite proud of that given the current post update climate. It doesn’t last, of course. I keep losing with 5-6000 damage less than the red team; sometimes I hate Heavy tanks, I really do.

But I soldier on, and before long here is my brand new 60TP Lewandowskiego in my garage.

I’m not going to mess with the tungsten rounds, or at least not from the start, but I have changed my loadout a little, opting for the improved gear oil instead of the cheap foodstuff module.

It’s a large tank, the 60TP. Half again as big as my IS-4 or 5A, I’d say. It’s longer and wider, and the turret is about twice the size of the ones on those tanks. I guess it has to be to house that big gun and the huge shells that go with it.

Otherwise, this is a pretty unremarkable Heavy tank. It’s slow and lumbering, with a long reload and strong armour; especially the turret. Most opponents will have to use calibrated HEAT shells to get through the upper plate head on, and the lower plate is just a narrow strip just like at tier VIII.

Let’s talk about the weapon. Shell speed is even worse than on my Chinese tanks, and you can of course run that special gun powder, but you’ll have to give up something else. Accuracy isn’t fantastic, and the turret rotates really slowly, so it’s not always easy to put out the damage. I stacked up on some tungsten shells, and it’s certainly satisfying landing those highrolls. But personally, I kind of feel the alpha damage is quite enough as it is, and I think I’d rather have some more engine power, so I switched back to gear oil and red can fuel.

The armour is strong like I said, but this is a big tank, and it moves slow. You’ll need to check your angles and watch out for crossfire. Outside of a hull down situation the armour isn’t really all that good, certainly no better than other Heavy tanks of the tier. The driver seems to take a lot of hits, sitting inside that weakspot in the middle of the front plate.

And it’s going all right. I’m doing a little over 50% WR, about the same as my global average. If you heard this tank is monstrously overpowered, then I’m not seeing it, and I did try the tungsten rounds.

I’m struggling a little to say any more about the 60TP Lewandowskiego, but it’s just not a very complicated vehicle. If you’ve driven a SuperHeavy before you’ll know how to drive it, all you really need to do is adapt to the new armour profile.

Am I disappointed in it? No, it’s not that. It’s just the more I drive it, the more apparent it becomes that this is not quite the style of tank I prefer. Being slow and cumbersome with a long reload means your options are fairly limited; in a vehicle like that positioning becomes more important, and the rest of the team has to do their jobs, because you can’t just zip cross the map to where you are needed.

But I do like it. I like having it in my garage, and I have been driving it every day since I got it. It definitely adds something completely new to my collection, and I’ve had some fun driving it.

And perhaps that’s enough for me. But is it going to be enough for you?

If you want the newest thing, then there’s nothing to think about. If you have a well stocked garage and mountains of resources, then likewise; just go ahead. But what if you are a beginner, or you don’t have a lot of resources to build your collection of top tier tanks, Is the 60TP going to be worth it for you?

I’m going to be straight. If you want a tier X Heavy tank, then I think you should get the IS-4 first, and then the 60TP after that, and I’ll tell you why. Russian bias notwithstanding, the IS-4 is a simple, robust workhorse Heavy tank, and it’s not at all hard to drive. Once you get comfortable with one, you can start looking at that bigger gun.

Here is where I got stuck, and seeing as the new update dropped a while back, that’s not great progress.

But yes, I have spent the entire time thinking about what I really think about the new 60TP, and I’m not sure I am any closer to an answer.

I have been driving my other Heavy tanks too, and other than being new, the 60TP doesn’t really stand out among them. No matter how hard I try, I can’t get past the surface and say something I feel is worthwhile about what this tank is all about, but perhaps there just isn’t a lot to say. The “thing” about Polish tanks is they have slightly bigger guns than tier average and they have some new consumables.

Now, for a tank philosopher that’s plenty of reason to grind the Polish Heavys. As I’ve mentioned they are quite powerful tanks. Not brain surgery to drive them.

But it really brings us no closer to answering my initial question of “Why”. What is the “Why” of Polish Heavy tanks? That they are powerful? Tanks stats are transient and change over time, as does the game itself. And as I started driving my tier X Mediums instead of Heavy tanks, I realised that maybe I am just not the right person to ask. I’m not a Heavy tank person, but I could still make the 60TP work, and I kind of like driving it.

If you happened to see the Blitz Cup finals, you’ll know the 60TP featured quite prominently. I don’t mind that at all; so will any new Heavy tank if it has something going for it, we’ve seen it happen before with the WZ-113, the Kranvagn, and the M-VI-Yoh.

I still run the new gear oil instead of cheap foodstuffs, and I actually run the tungsten shells instead of a speed boost on all my Polish Heavys, not just the 60TP.

And you know what? I do still drive it. Getting back to casual driving it’s like it has insinuated itself into the rotation somehow. When things get grindy on the night shift I usually drive my IS-4; indeed I got it partly for that very reason. But now I’ll just as soon drive the 60TP, and that’s a pretty high mark, wouldn’t you say?

I should mention my 60TP doesn’t perform nearly as well as my IS-4 does, but then I did drive it in testing, so my stats aren’t 100% representative. But I’m not surprised; the IS-4 is a little faster, has a shorter reload, so it’s not strange at all it should perform a little better.

Where does that leave us?

The 60TP is currently one of the strongest Heavy tanks at tier X, there’s no doubt about that. But it doesn’t overperform as far as I can tell; it puts out a lot of damage, but the current average winrate according to BlitzStars is on par with the newly buffed IS-7 and the M-VI-Yoh, and it’s growing to be as popular as the Yoh and the E100, but nowhere near the popularity of the FV215b 183 “SkillStar”, which if you hadn’t noticed is by far the most driven tier X tank in the game.

So yeah, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it. And I don’t think it’ll be very heavily impacted by any future balance adjustments, because I don’t think that would change what the 60TP is; a slow and lumbering SuperHeavy with a big gun and a strong turret front. I also don’t think it needs a lot of adjusting. As I said it’s not doing any wonders for my winrate.

I still like the whole branch of Polish Heavy tanks, especially tiers VII and VIII. The tier IX Tyszkiewicza I have to admit was a bit of a letdown for me, but that’s because I had such high hopes for it; there’s nothing really wrong with it. It’s just not the completely amazing tank I was hoping it would be.

It’s two thumbs up for me.

See you out there!

The Contemporary Type 62

Help! I Have A Hype 62!

By:

IrmaBecx

So I was talking to one of my readers the other day, and it turns out they took my advice and bought the Type 62. I figured it’s such a classic, surely I must have a piece on it already? And I do, only it’s about two years old by now.

That’s not good enough, of course.

I’ve been spending quite a bit of time at tier VII lately; I bought the T-44-85, and then the AMX 13 57, and just recently the M41D Jade. But my firm conviction is that the Type 62 is still one of the most worthwhile premium tank you can own, and really it should be in everyone’s garage.

Why is that? What makes this tank so great?

I thought I’d do a quick rundown and offer a few tips on how to actually drive the thing.

First let’s talk about the setup. You should always run nine equipment slots on a premium Light tank, because you’re going to live out on the edges of performance, and that’s where those small percentage bonuses make a difference.

The armour is a little more forgiving than other similar Light tanks, meaning it doesn’t get overmatched quite as often. But it’s still too thin to make the armour upgrade work, so run the extra hitpoints. Since this is an old tank and it never got nerfed, you already have more hitpoints than usual.

You may have heard some people call the Hype 62 overpowered, and what they mean is it has pre-nerf penetration values. Chinese HEAT rounds especially tend to have high penetration, and this is no exception: having 250 mm of penetration is the Hype’s claim to fame. In real terms, your AP shells won’t go through a Tiger 2 frontally, even when calibrated. Your HEAT rounds will punch through the upper plate if it isn’t angled. Using calibrated HEAT rounds, you’ll go through the entire front of the tank out to a 20 degree side angle.

Here’s the thing. You don’t really want to fight Heavy tanks frontally, so do you really need all that penetration? Let your playstyle decide. Calibrated shells cost you less than one round a minute worth of DPM.

Chinese tanks usually don’t have massive engine power, but they also don’t generally weigh a lot. The Type 62 isn’t really that much faster than a Medium tank, and it feels a little like driving a diesel; meaning it takes a little while for it to get going. Remember than when you are being pushed, start moving early so you don’t get pinned down. Since engine power is the real weakness, I tend to use the engine upgrade and not extra traverse.

85 mm used to be a big gun for tier VII, and it’s still above average. To pay for that it isn’t pin point accurate, but it aims quickly and is fairly stable firing on the move. Also, all three shell types travel at the same (fairly low) speed, which is nice.

I tend to run the speed boost instead of adrenaline on tanks that don’t have massive DPM, but if you take a lot of hits, or you Yolo yourself into too much trouble all the time, perhaps consider an extra medkit or fire extinguisher.

Remember, Yoloing yourself into trouble is fine as long as you can Yolo yourself out of it.

Before we get into the Light tank doctrine, there’s an important point I want to make. Being a Light tank means you have Light tank camouflage. And Light tank camo means you have camo on the move. In plain English, that means your tank has the same camo value when moving as it does standing still.

There is one exception, which is if you use a camo net. Then you will actually have a slightly higher camo bonus after being still for three seconds, but the Type 62 has good viewrange, so I personally always run the optics, and the actual camo difference is minor.

Again, let your playstyle decide.

So the fact you have the same camo on the move means two things. First of all there is no real reason for you to be standing still, and this is a surprisingly hard lesson to learn. We are so used to standing still meaning being sneaky, it doesn’t really compute that we are just as sneaky moving around. Second, because of this, your camo will start resetting immediately after you fire, even if you are running away. If you are unspotted and you fire at someone, you will go unspotted ten seconds later.

These game mechanics can be a little tricky to get your head around, and it isn’t always immediately apparent how they impact your gameplay. But other than speed and powerful HEAT rounds, your camo is one of the few things you have going for you.

If you didn’t know, what we call the “Light tank doctrine” is just a set of ideas to help you survive a little longer so you can do more damage and be instrumental to the win.

Like resetting your camo, running away from bad engagements, trading distance for damage, keep moving so you don’t get hit, and always play as if you only had a single hitpoint left.

And the Hype 62 is perhaps the best tank you could find to learn the Light tank doctrine, because there is literally nothing special or complicated about it. Once you learn how it moves, you can start working on your positioning, spotting, isolating, circle-of-deathing, and running away so you don’t get pinned down.

It’s tempting to just bomb around mindlessly when you first get your hands on a Light tank, and there’s nothing wrong with that. You want to learn how hard you can turn before the Hype 62 loses grip and start sliding, and the more sticky situations you land yourself in, the better you’ll learn how to deal with them.

So you may think that as a Light tank, your main job is spotting. But we have smaller maps than on PC, so passive spotting isn’t as viable. Also, people will start lobbing huge HE shells at you if you stay too long in one place. Getting initial spots for your team is always valuable. But don’t hang around at the front, either go spot a flank, or relocate so you can help focus fire.

If you feel like you don’t know what to do, that’s one of the things you can think about. Is there anywhere I could go to get a few shots in? Or is there a fight I could make less fair by involving myself in it? Maybe there is an isolated tank somewhere you could try to take out?

Don’t forget to check what the enemy Light and Medium tanks are doing. If they are harassing your Heavys and TDs, you should try and do something about that.

There is no standard recipe for Light tank gameplay. It’s all about improvisation and thinking on the fly. Freedom of movement and freedom of action is what makes Light tanks fun to drive, but it’s also what makes them hard to teach someone else how to drive.

And the thing about the Hype 62 is it’s a pretty powerful tank at tier VII, even by Medium tank standards. Since it wasn’t nerfed along with the other tier VII Light tanks, it has Medium tank hitpoints, Medium tank DPM, and as I said these small advantages will be relevant to you if you play the tank right, because you’ll be skating on the edges of performance. It makes a difference if you can bounce a shell off your behind where other tanks will get overmatched, it makes a difference if your no-scope snap shot flies true, and it makes a difference you have an 85 mm where tier standard is 76.

That’s the way to get to know your Hype 62; learn all it’s little advantages and then try to integrate them into your playstyle. I know that sounds like “play to your strengths”, which is just a more fancy way to say “git gud” and doesn’t tell you how. But the “how” is simply following the Light tank doctrine, and so every little thing you learn your Hype does well should be adapted to spotting, hiding, relocating, and harassing enemies.

I first got into Light tanks when the NGL line dropped; that’s the RU 251 branch if you are too young or too old to remember. And I loved those tanks, I really did. All except one: the Spähpanzer I C, and that has never changed. My initial anti-Chinese sentiment was down to the fact I would meet Hype 59 wolfpacks in my tier VI tanks, but pretty soon I came to realise the Type 62 was everything I wanted in a tier VII Light tank, and if you think that means it was really just a regular tank-looking tank, then congratulations – you’ve been paying attention!

I never once regretted buying it. It’s right up there with my most driven tanks. Sometimes it’s been my daily driver, sometimes it’s been on the back burner, but it’s always been there, it’s always been good, and I can’t see that ever changing. Even the Smashillator plague couldn’t kill it off.

These days my garage is getting crowded, I have all the other premium Light tanks available, and I will admit that compared to some of my newer acquisitions, the Hype 62 feels a little dated and pedestrian.

But that’s one thing. New and shiny is always going to be more attractive than old and dependable, but in terms of outright power, the Hype 62 lacks for nothing, it never did, and if anyone says it’s been power creeped or become obsolete, they are straight up lying to you.

If you are a new Hype 62 driver, then all I can say is congratulations. You have bought one of the best premium tanks in the game, and I hope you’ll have a long and happy Blitz career together.

You will never master everything about it, but it will keep you coming back for more because of that.

And if you find you are struggling to make it work, then all you have to do is go back to working on the basic skills of Light tank driving: resetting camo before you try to take a shot, using the wide open spaces of the map to get around undetected, helping your teammates focus fire or get their targets turned around, and running away from bad engagements, meaning when you are outnumbered and are about to get pinned down and taken out.

It sounds simple, I know.

But driving a Light tank is the most difficult job in the game. It’s supposed to be difficult. And no matter how good your vehicle is, it cannot replace your own skill and ingenuity in driving.

The most important thing to learn when driving a light tank is to stay alive. The reason is very simple: the longer the game progresses, and the more the teams start thinning out, the better you’ll be able to take advantage of your speed, stealth, and agility. That’s what “playing to your strength” means, and you can’t really start doing it right away. This is also why you’ll want to hold on to your hitpoints, so you can use them instead of armour to secure those last kills during the endgame.

IrmaBecx says the Hype 62 is still the best Hype on the market.

AMX CDA 105 Quick Review!

La Vie StuG En Français

De:

Mssr IrmaBecx

Si vous ne savais pas, my first ever favourite tank in the game was the tier V StuG III. Back then it had the 105 mm as an option, so what I actually drove wasn’t the Sturmgeschütz III, but rather the Sturmhaubitze 42, and it was all about landing those massive HE shots.

“StuG Life” was what we all talked about back then, it was an early tank game meme, not exclusive to Wargaming titles, and it took me a long while before I finally reached the heady heights of tier VIII and got my hands on the Ferdinand.

But yea, that’s ancient history. I don’t even have a Ferdinand anymore, opting to keep the Jagdpanther II instead. I do however have a WZ-120-1G FT and an AMX AC48 “Baby Foch”, so it’s not like I’ve given up on fast Tank Destroyers altogether.

And now there’s a new one in the game.

Since it’s new, it’s in crates; not only that it’s in lockboxes, so you may think of this as a sort of preview. As usual, I’m not going to recommend anyone even consider a tank that isn’t in a regular bundle with a fixed price.

The AMX CDA 105 is a “paper tank”, meaning there were plans for it, but it was never actually turned into a prototype, and there isn’t a lot of information out there. Just by looking at it, I would presume it’s a casemate AMX 30 with the 30B gun on it, and that can’t be far from the truth.

It turns out the CN 105 is a little more powerful than the 105 mm mle. F1 off the 30B; it has higher penetration, shorter aimtime, and a 440 alpha HE round.

Otherwise, the CDA has a lot in common with French Medium tanks. Armour is sloped but thin, engine power is good, and it turns well, so you will have to rely on stealth and manoeuvrability instead of brute force. It’s not a Baby Foch this one, it’s a turretless Medium, and a French Medium at that. I don’t mean that to sound like a negative, I just mean in terms of playstyle.

We drove the AMX CDA 105 in testing, and I was pretty impressed. It really was a blast from the past; a mobile but pretty fragile Tank Destroyer with a powerful weapon that likes “dynamic” gameplay, which latter back in the day meant mindless Yoloing, but now means running with the Mediums and using mobility to help give support fire.

90 mm frontal armour doesn’t sound impressive, and it’s not. But using your gun depression, you are presenting between 300 and 400 mm of effective armour everywhere except the commander’s hatch, which should help deal with most tier VIII and IX tanks you will encounter.

Not a complicated vehicle, then. Not quite as crude as an ISU or WZ TD, but not quite as fragile as the “K-Jag” Kanonenjagdpanzer 105 or the Borsig. Your DPM isn’t fantastic, but it’s not that hard to put our the damage with your accurate gun and excellent penetration values. You get premium HEAT rounds, so using calibrated shells you can punch through the upper plate of an E75 if it’s not angled up.

Two ways to drive the AMX CDA 105.

The first is the classic TD strategy of camping at the beginning and then going on the offensive when the teams start thinning out. The second is to go out on the flanks to help support your Mediums and Light tanks, and then catching the Heavys and TDs in a crossfire once the flank is clear. In theory, both sound easy.

But this is a somewhat fragile tank, and you’re not going to bully your opponents like the WZ-120-1G FT or the Baby Foch can. 350 alpha isn’t vey intimidating, but with about an 8 second reload you’re not going to be dead in the water if you miss the first shot; you can do around 1000 damage in well under 20 seconds. Also make sure to bring some of your high powered HE rounds to max out your damage potential against other fragile targets.

The old StuG is still my sixth most driven tank ever, even though I haven’t touched it in three and a half years, and it still has the same winrate I used to have back when I started out; around 45%. If you are a newer player, there’s no reason to expect the CDA 105 is going to do any better, because it really is the same sort of tank.

If you are an experienced player, and especially if you drive the Kanonenjagdpanzer, you’re in a much better position to appreciate this elegant although perhaps not beautiful machine.

However, as stated my advice is to wait until it arrives in a proper bundle where you know exactly what you are paying for, and how much.

As it is, all I can say is I like it, it’s definitely a “pro tool”; or “thinking man’s tank” if you prefer, and it most definitely has the tank philosophy seal of approval.

IrmaBecx says hold on to your gold, and see you out there!

Object 260 Bundle!

Esox Lucius

By:

IrmaBecx

So you know how the whole “Object” thing works, right? It’s the same as the “WZ” thing on Chinese tanks; it means we are dealing with a prototype, a “work in progress” if you will. So when you see something that looks suspiciously like an IS-7 but is called the Object 260, then it doesn’t take a genius to figure out we are talking about the pre-production model.

You may be aware I have kind of a history with the old Bias-7. It used to be everywhere, and it was the first tank I really struggled against when I first reached the lofty heights of tier X. I used to pound on that stupid cockroach carapace until I was blue in the face, and the thing just wouldn’t die.

It’s popularity waned with time, but it never went out of style, and however much people would complain about the gun handling and the ammo racks, there were always new hopefuls lining up to drive it, and at the moment, it’s almost as popular s the new Lewandowskiego.

I’ve asked myself many times if I want one, and the answer has always been “no”. Even when it looked like it was turning into one of those faded primadonna underdog vehicles my heart didn’t warm up to it, and I don’t think that’s ever going to change.

So naturally, you would perhaps assume I would be completely uninterested in the prototype version. This however, is not the case.

How much of an IS-7 is the Obj. 260?

Well, you don’t get quite as much armour, but the turret front is a little thicker. That means it’s a little lighter on its feet. You also get a 122 mm, but one that compares very favourably to the venerable “IS-4 gun”, and has APCR standard. I have to say one of the things I never liked about the IS-7 is the dumb looking pepperpot muzzle brake, and the 260 has a similar one that looks a little cleaner with just a single opening either side. The gun depression is the same six degrees.

The 260 is a little taller than the IS-7, and it has a regular shot trap turret instead of the cockroach carapace of the IS. There’s no doubt the Object isn’t quite as sturdy. But it works well enough, you have spaced armour sides, and you will get those “Russian bounces”. You just have to angle up with a little more care.

But yeah; this is a blue premium IS-7. You could just grind out the actual IS-7 from the tech tree and have much the same tank. Personally however, I like the 260 a lot better.

Is it just the novelty of the tank that makes it appealing? Well, maybe a little. It certainly looks magnificent in that “Pike” camouflage. But also, the Object 260 accents the things about the IS-7 that I enjoy; the fact that is’s basically a huge Medium tank in disguise. The 260 is a mobile, brawly Heavy tank, and that’s the kind I like to drive.

I’ve been driving the tank for a while on my press account, and it’s been going pretty well. It’s not a difficult drive, but as I said it does take a little more finesse than the tech tree version on account of the armour profile. If you always thought the IS-7 weapon was derpy and unreliable, then this one is more accurate, more stable, and aims faster. Oh, and it has around 400 more DPM.

But when driving the IS-7 for comparison, the difference in armour plating is quite noticeable, and it strikes me that the same things that make me like the 260 might make others want to think twice about it. This is not an IS-7 only better; it’s a prototype. A preliminary sketch where the contours haven’t been finalised.

If you are used to driving the tech tree version, you may like that the 260 is a little more mobile; it gathers speed quicker, doesn’t bleed off as much of it on inclines, and so it reaches position faster. But once you get there, you might also feel you miss the solid armour of the Bias-7. You may also like the extra DPM, the faster shell speed, and the accuracy, but then this is really just a standard 122 mm, and it’s not all that exciting, except you get premium HEAT rounds instead of APCR. That means you can bump your WN8 rounds up to 343 mm of penetration instead of 318 mm on the tech tree tank..

It is, however, a nice package. It doesn’t necessarily add anything to the game that wasn’t there before, but it’s dynamic and agile for a Heavy, and it does fill out the Heavy tank niche.

I drive a couple of games to reacquaint myself with the 260. One thing people complain about on the tech tree tank is the forward mounted ammo racks. Personally, I don’t think I’ve ever had a problem with those, but I know I’m in the minority, and if you have that issue, you may be happy to know the Object 260 doesn’t have those. But it still has massive ammo racks along the sides and in the back of the turret, and since the frontal armour is weaker, you can still hit the ammo rack through the front plate, you just have to aim a little further back.

But after a handful of games, I am really just confirming the feeling I have about the 260 vs. IS-7 already; both tanks work well, they are similar with some key differences (like armour versus firepower), and personally, I really like the Object 260 but not the IS-7.

I actually manage to win four games in a row in the Object and lose half the games in the IS, which is a small sample, and not representative of how these tanks perform in comparison. The difference in average winrate between them is currently 0.02%. Yes, that does say two thousands of one percent.

There’s no doubt I have more fun in the prototype bias monster, but in reality, they should perform about the same.

So not a complicated drive, a new take on a very old and respected vehicle. I may not like the IS-7, but I do endorse it, do recommend it, and the idea it has become obsolete is simply laughable, especially after the recent stealth buff to the armour.

Twenty five thousand gold they want for the “Pike” with nine slots, or twenty thousand for the bench seat, plain jane variant without the paintjob and factory fitted equipment, which is a huge amount, but it is at least a straight up bundle.

Should you get one?

I’m not going to stop you. If you realise this is just an IS-7 with thinner armour and a lower caliber, faster firing gun and you are OK with that, then go right ahead. It’s a nice drive and it looks great; I wouldn’t mind having one myself.

If you don’t have an IS-7 already, I would encourage you to grind that one first, not least so you’ll learn how to drive a pike nose. Or, if you are well acquainted with something like the IS-5 or the WZ-111, and you know about tier X gameplay, you might be a 260 candidate.

Likewise if you are a newer player, I don’t think you should drop that much gold to buy your way into tier X. This is the second time the 260 is available, and it’s been priced accordingly; do yourself a favour and get some tier X experience while you wait for a better deal. It will become cheaper with time.

Still. With a few small caveats, it’s basically a “Yes” from me. I really like the 260, I think it’s a great tank, and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it, even though personally I prefer my beloved WZ-111 5A.

See you out there!

Greendog – M41D Review!

Jade Speed Demon

By:

IrmaBecx

So yea, sometimes Wargming manage to do something that is truly inspierd, and with so much variety in the game these days, perhaps we shouldn’t expect anything too revolutionary.

But you may be aware I am a complete nerd for Chinese tanks, and I’m on record numerous times saying I never met a Chinese premium tank I didn’t like.

I thought the Hype 64 was going to be the first, and I didn’t find it all that appealing in the beginning. But when I got one of my own in that event a while back, I fell head over heels in love with it simply on account of it’s modest straightforwardness, and of course you know about the Hype 62; the worst kept secret in the game.

It’s not like we’re starved for American Light tanks these days, or premium Lights for that matter, and so you’ll forgive me for thinking the M41D was going to be a hard sell. It’s a 76 mm gun at tier VII, and it’s on a platform that doesn’t have any armour. But they also gave it excellent engine power and top notch DPM, so it’s not completely hopeless.

Long story short, I bought one.

If you don’t have a Hype 62 yet, then this black friday is an excellent opportunity to get one. A premium Light tank should be in everyone’s garage, because no matter how good you get at driving, they’ll never get boring.

And yes: you should get the 62 before you get the M41D.

But this in one of those balancing jobs that WG are getting better and better at, and that we’re going to see more and more of in the future, because there are simply more tanks in the game now. So even though there are several tier VII Light tanks already, and at least one of them is a lot more of an obvious acquisition than the Chinese Jade, the M41D still has it’s place in the game, and it’s not just for bored unicums.

So what you would get if you bought one is basically a Walker Bulldog with more engine power and a more powerful gun. It actually fires fractionally slower than the Bulldog, but it has 10 more alpha per shot, so the DPM still ends up a little higher. Also, you have something like 250 more horsepower, so this thing is powerful.

But yea, that’s the end of the good news. This thing has at most 25 mm armour all around, so it will be overmatched by a 76 mm weapon, which by the way is a sub tier average caliber, even for a Light tank.

Look, if you want to be successful you’ll get an 85 mm Hype 62 or a 90 mm Kunze panzer. There’s no reason to look at a 76 mm at tier VII unless you know what you’re getting yourself into.

Anyway, I bought one. Paid actual money, too. Because this really is a great little tank.

You’ll be aware I am sure of my Chinese biases. I have lots of biases. And I’ve said before the thing I like most about the Chinese vehicles is that they’re so straightforward. They have strengths and weaknesses that are real easy to understand, and a lot of them have a similar feel to them.

Even with almost three thousand DPM, the M41D will only do 170 alpha hits. That means if you’re trading shots you’re almost always going to do a bad trade. But Light tanks are about mobility and map control, and the tank has one of the most dangerous, never-go-out-of-style strengths in the game: which is speed.

Look, it’s a fun drive; I like my Kunze and my 62 and my 64, and it’s not like I need another tier VII Light tank. But it’s a cheap bundle, and it’s a tank I really like; I always meant to get one. So I just put my money where my mouth is, and now my tank collection feels a little more complete.

That I think is all I have to say before I’ve actually driven it.

I have driven the M41D before, of course. I drove it on my press account. But it’s always different when it’s my own tank, not just a loan vehicle for testing purpouses.

I’m running my standard combat loadout. Camo isn’t that good so no reason for a camo net; besides the viewrange isn’t stellar either. Pen vaues are OK and it gets double APCR, so no reason to run calibrated shells. I might even try the adrenaline; we’ll see how I feel about the mobility. Extra hitpoints of course, track upgrade, and longer lasting consumables. I run double food and super fuel, and then speed boost, dual repairs, and 37/17/10 APCR/APCR/HE.

Not an exciting loadout by any means, but then as I said this is an unremarkable tank in many ways. It’s just well put together.

I will say I’m not a huge fan of the “Jade” premium camo, but it looks all right I guess, and so I’m going to run it. Would you believe this is my first Chinese tank that has a dragon on it? With that, I think it’s time to roll out. Looking at my stats before I go, it looks like we didn’t test the M41D after all; I must just have driven it on my press account. But it doesn’t change anything; I still like this tank a lot already.

Of course, the first thing that happens is my team splits up on Fort despair and I get SU:ed by a 152. It’s the night shift. No surprises.

Next game I manage two ram kills and start power sliding a little, driving all around the map and we get the win. If it wasn’t still the night shift, I’d say this party was picking up. But it’s never like that; premium Light tanks are always hit and miss, and that’s why we love them so much.

Next game is the same story of team splitting against a classic slow lemming train and we lose with depressing inevitability.

Fourth game I thought we were looking good, but basically the same thing happens, now I’m 1-3 and even if I win the fifth game, which I do, I’ll be sub 50% winrate in my new M41D.

So 40% WR with 1000 average damage after my first 5 games. Even in such a small sample, that doesn’t sound encouraging. But a premium Light tank is a long term committment, so I’m not bothered about it. Things are going to pick up, and the sheer speed alone makes this tank worthwhile driving.

Could I have blasted my way out of a few more sityations with adrenaline instead of speed boost? It doesn’t feel like it, but why not give it a shot. This tank has two things going for it: speed and DPM, and so of course it makes sense to try and maximise both those advantages. Speed means you can yolo yourself into all kinds of trouble much quicker, so if you tend to ket killed early, maybe you should give the speedboost a rest?

Still. I’m not unhappy at all. Because driving the M41D is everything I remembered it to be, and it really is a blast.

Waking up the next day to my new tank I don’t necessarily do any better (I don’t, three times as many games and I’m still at 40%), but after the first one or two, I just don’t care anymore. It’s a new tank and it’s a tricky drive, it’s going to take a little while to adapt to the playstyle. I was never into US Light tanks, so I haven’t really driven the “original” M41 Bulldog.

But I have driven the Black Dog, and this is like one of those dropped down a tier. Actually, the M41D outperforms the LeKpz M41 90 in a few areas, most notably DPM, traverse, and power to weight ratio.

I mean, the Hype 62 is one of the most recognised and successful tanks in the game; I don’t know anyone who hates it unless they think giving a paper tank 250 mm HEAT penetration makes it OP and they dislike it for that reason. Coming up with a different tier VII Chinese Light tank was always going to be a hard sell.

But the Jade Yoloer is at least that – different. This is not a Bulldog. It’s not a baby Black Dog. It’s not another Hype 62. It’s something of it’s own, and I think Wargaming deserves credit for that.

Note that “deserve credit” doesn’t necessarily mean you should go out and buy the tank because it’s been well balanced. And when I say “well balanced”, that doesn’t mean “average”. In this case it means it has a nice balance between it’s strengths and weaknesses and between itself and other similar tanks. This is basically the whole reason I’m such a sucker for anything Chinese.

I can’t believe I have three Chinese premium Light tanks now?!

A couple of things to note if you are curious about getting your own M41D.

First of all as I said I think the Hype 62 should be your first consideration, and that’s never going to change. I’ve had mine for years and years and I still drive it; it’s one of the best and most worthwhile premium tanks in the game. The reason you should look at it before the M41D is that it’s a little more forgiving to drive; it makes better trades and doesn’t get overmatched quite as often.

But yeh, this thing is fast with a capital “F”. It’s such a thrill simply driving it around. It will lose grip if you turn too quickly on any surface, and that can actually be not so great if it happens when you didn’t plan for it to. You know; when you are rolling in for the attack at maximum speed, thinking you are going to turn the corner behind them and make your escape, but instead you go in to a massive powerslide and glide sideways straight ahead while they pepper you.

No? Well, this tank will teach you all about it.

So it gets you into trouble and it can make the tank hard to control, but of course speed is a strong asset and it’s virtually what the M41D lives by. It has mediocre camo and viewrange plus you have to build your damage slowly with your puny 76 mm, even if it is a powerful weapon as far as 76 mm guns go.

Two different kinds of APCR and then HE means you have three different shell velocities to deal with. The HE shells are pretty dam slow, but they do pack a higher damage than usual, so bring a few for those flimsy TDs.

The way the gun falls down is making bad trades. Anything that’s 76 mm and up will just need to point at you and it’ll go straight through, but you may need to place your shots more carefully. Learn to pre-aim and no-scope properly, use your agility to bait shots, and whatever you do don’t forget to reset your camo, what little you have.

I mentioned the M41D doesn’t have great viewrange. This can be problematic against other Light tanks with better camo rating and viewrange; you’ll have trouble counterspotting them. The M41D is really more like a Medium tank in terms of spotting capabilities. Again, use your speed instead. Not a lot of other tanks can go clear across the map or all the way round it as quickly as the M41D.

If you are starting to think this doesn’t exactly sound like a carry tank, then I would agree that no, it doesn’t. But that’s wrong you see, because any Light tank can carry a game. The unassuming little Hype 64 taught me that; I was 100% sure I would be disappointed in it, indeed I didn’t even bother driving it at first. But simply being a Light tank means you can get away with things no other tank can. You just have to choose your moments, and that’s what Light tank driving is all about.

It feels a little strange sitting here being happy with a premium tank that’s been producing such useless statistical results thus far. I can tell you I’m almost 20% below the global average.

But I am being completely straight faced. I really like the M41D. I have fun driving it. I am happy I bought it.

Okay. But if you’re not a jaded tank philosopher with a garage full of tier X bruisers and a penchant for Mao tanks? Is this tank worth considering for you?

Maybe. First off it looks pretty cool, I don’t mind the “Jade” camo. That may or may not be a selling point for you. And then did I mention the thing is blisteringly fast? Fast tanks are always fun, and they give you options slower tanks don’t. Finally, a premium Light tank is never a bad investment. You’ll always come back to them sooner or later, and they’ll always have things to teach you.

But yes, I did say the first investment you should consider is the Type 62. And then I think you should have a look at the Kunze Panzer, which is basically a baby Leopard 1 with camo on the move. If you are uncertain about the M41D, you could just grind out the M41 Walker Bulldog and run the single shot, that’ll put you pretty close.

If you struggle driving Light tanks, you have a tendency to yolo yourself into too much trouble, and you don’t like building damage with small guns, then that all speaks against the M41D.

There are more negatives to consider. It’s a tier VII, meaning Smashillator ground zero, and you’ll face the whole tier VIII cesspit of IS spam, OP premiums, and gigant HE shells flying all around.

And against these negatives all I can offer is it’s a Light tank and it looks prettty cool?

Um, yea. And… uh, it’s fast. A jade green speed demon on tracks.

Before I go, I’m going to do a little experiment and offer a few suggestions on how to actually drive the thing.

I thought I’d switch out the speed boost for adrenaline and see how I go. The M41D has the highest DPM of all the tier VII Light tanks as well as being just about the fastest, so both these make sense to amplify. I am wondering if the added firepower might help me chew through enemies a little faster with the pew-pew gun and maybe get me out of a few tight spots.

Otherwise, make sure to follow the Light tank doctrine. Reset camo, relocate, don’t get spotted unless you choose to reveal yourself, trade distance for damage, keep moving or you die, et cetera.

I’m not sure the adrenline made much of a difference. I think I’m going back to the speed boost, we’ll see. After 25 battles I’m at 44% winrate, which is at least an improvement. Be warned the M41D will do no wonders for your stats.

Other than being a Light tank, you have a couple of key weaknesses to deal with. One is viewrange and camo. If there is another Light tank on the enemy team, they will see you first, it’s as simple as that. You can’t outspot them, so don’t try. Use your speed to light them up as they’re moving into position, and then either leave or try to bait a shot to make them reveal themselves.

The other key weakness is firepower. You are doing 170 alpha every three and a half seconds, and your penetration values aren’t that amazing even using the premium rounds. You will need to dip into those against heavy tanks and other usual suspects. And take advantage of the 260 alpha HE shell against flimsy targets.

It’s a Chinese Bulldog. It’s also a tank that’s fun to drive but hard to actually win a game in.

What the M41D does particularly badly is fight multiple opponents at once, because again they only have to tag your tank to penetrate while you most often have to place your shots more carefully and hit them more times, all the while people are loading HE and HESH shells and pre aiming a you.

Holding on to your hitpoints is tricky. Putting out the damage is tricky. The only thing that isn’t very tricky is hitting 70 km/h on the straights and powersliding through the turns.

So if you’re a newer player, while I maintain that a premium Light tank is always worthwhile sooner or later, perhaps you should wait a while before you pick up this particular one.

If you are an experienced player I’d feel more comfortable recommending the M41D, but even then you may find it frustrating.

Personally, in spite of my current 48% or so winrate, I’m very happy I bought one.

IrmaBecx says make sure it’s going to make you happy too, and try to curb your Yolo tendencies a little when you drive it.

Also, you don’t take my word for it. If you’re unware, my colleague Martindogger is dipping his toes back in the Blitz pool. He’s recently bought the M41D and made a video about it.

It’s great to see Martin back, even if it’s just going to be once in a while. I’ve missed his down to earth perspective.

Hear his thoughts and take a look at some slightly noob-free gameplay in the video below:

Polish Heavy Tanks!

Lewandowskiego Grind part 1

By:

IrmaBecx

So by this time tomorrow the new update will have dropped, and it’s time to start grinding. Not going to lie; I’ll probably drop quite a bit of free XP so I can be a tier X early adopter again, but I have to say I’m pretty curious about a few of the other tanks as well.

I don’t really grind anymore unless there’s something new added, and when that happens I’ll usually be sitting on a big cache of resources, and so it’s really just a simple “yes” or “no” question: do I want these tanks?

It would be pertinent of course, for me as a tank philosopher to grind out the latest thing, but in this case I would have done so either way. I’ve been hoping the 60TP would come to Blitz; I like that massive turret and TD caliber gun, and you have to agree it looks a little better than the boxy E100?

But there are two other tanks that I’m really curious about and it’s because I have some of my absolute favourite tanks in the game at those tiers.

It may surprise you to learn one is the tier VII IS-2. Yeah, the Chinese one. I skipped it doing the Chinese grind because it was so useless back then, but then they brought it in line with the other IS-spam, and so I kind of picked it up later so I’d have a tier VII Heavy tank. It grew on me like you wouldn’t believe; it’s just a great little tank, and you have those HEAT rounds that will punch through the upper plate of a Tiger 2.

There’s really no reason to drive any of the other IS spam tanks at tier VII unless you are grinding or you like the Berlin or Anime look.

The other is my dearly beloved WZ-111 1-4, the only 130 mm Heavy tank at tier iX. Until tomorrow, that is…

One of the defining characteristic of Polish tanks is they have big guns, and so the tier IX has a 130 mm where you would normally expect a 120 or 122 mm. Compared to the 111 1-4 it has better gun handling at the expense of DPM, but there’s more to it than that. Where the 1-4 is a fast, lightweight Heavy tank, the 50TP looks like it’s more of a hull down tank. The turret front looks like it’s stronger too, but it’s also a bigger target.

At tier VII, the top gun is a Bofors 105 mm, that’s not necessarily a “big gun”. It’s very similar to the one you get on the Leo Medium tank; in fact it’s identical except for two things: the Heavy tank gun penetrates deeper, and it’s more accurate. But the IS-2 is about as generic a Heavy tank as you can get, so I’m keeping an open mind.

Update hving arrived, I dropped some free XP to get the first three tanks, and I’m going to start at tier VII. That’s not empty Elitism; it’s just about hopeless to get in a game in the first tank in the new branch on the first day. My 40TP Habicha therefore has 75% crew and is missing tracks and the engine, but I figured it could grind it’s own crew and modules once things quiet down.

I will say it looks like a cool little tank. Prolly going to keep it around for clan night.

So now I’m driving a fully kitted 45TP Habicha with like 85% crew and a maxed out 53TP Markowskiego back to back. The Habicha as a nice drive; it has a nice modern armour profile that’s easy to angle, eight degrees of gun depression, and it’s pretty mobile for a slow tank. My impression so far is that it’s going to be all right but nothing special. It has an almost Chinese feel to it, it’s so straightforward and unpretentious.

I was going to save my gold and grind the crew on the tier VIII as well, but I caved in almost immediately and shelled out the gold. There is a certain family resemblance between these two tanks, or three I should say with the 40TP, but I already feel like tier VIII is where the line starts to come into it’s own.

This one I wasn’t super curious about; it looks like an IS-3 to me minus the pike nose. In reality, it’s more of an Object 252u in Polish clothing; you get that very satisfying 420 alpha strike, and the armour is formidable, the lower plate especially is a tough target to hit. 40 km/h means it’s bordering on what is sometimes called a “breakthrough Heavy”. It’s been a while since I campaigned my WZ-111, and it’s actually kind of cool to be back behind the wheel of a tier VIII Heavy, even if it does smell a little of IS-spam.

How’s it going? It’s hard to say – it’s still the first day, and the gameplay has been, well; let’s be nice and call it “erratic”. Seeing plenty of new tanks out there, also plenty of seal clubbers running their favourite damage farmers. But I feel like it’s going pretty well; these tanks aren’t at all hard to drive, and I think they’re going to end up being quite popular.

The plan is, if I can grind 100K XP at tier VIII, I’ll have enough to unlock the last two tanks directly. We’ll see how long that lasts…

But how is it really going? I am winning one game out of five, and that’s with a fully upgraded tank. It’s only 15 games yet, but it seems strange all the same. The Markowskiego is definitely powerful, there’s no reason why it should struggle this way other than the erratic gameplay I alluded to earlier.

I’ve also come up against a few 50TP Tyszkiewicza already, that one seems even more powerful. What comes to mind facing it isn’t so much Chinese tanks as Russian ones; I’ve gotten quite a few completely bullshXt bounces off the 50TP armour already.

It’s a bit of a chore, I’ll be honest. I’m not doing huge amounts of damage, but I’m still often the top performer. So after 20 games or so I packed it in and blew 250K free XP to get the tier IX instead. That means I still have a hundred thousand to grind, but I’m feeling like I’d rather do that in tier IX than in tier VIII. It can’t be any worse, right? And I’ll get to run a 130 mm.

The 50TP Tyszkiewicza looks a little strange. It has that driver’s compartment in the middle of the long, sloping front plate, and the turret actually sits behind the centreline, but I guess you’d still call it mid- and not a rear turreted tank. It’s really just the tracks sticking out at the front, but unlike on the previous tank, you have a fairly prominent lower plate weakspot. It’s also slower than the Markowskiego, but you have about the same reload; 12 seconds and change, so the DPM is a little better on the top gun. The stock gun is of course the top gun from the tier VIII, so you’ll be familiar with that right away if you don’t have mountains of free XP lying around.

Tier IX, then. This is the one I’ve been waiting for, but it’ll be a tall order to fill the boots of either of my two favourite tier IX Heavy tanks; the WZ-111 1-4 and the Krautpanzer 70. In all honesty I don’t think it will, I’m just hoping it’ll be a pleasant drive.

The first game out isn’t very encouraging. My gut feeling is to go towards C on Yamato Harbour, but our other two Heavys go A, so I figure I’ll support them. Learned that from a Wargaming video a little while ago. But of course the entire red team go C, so before we’ve capped A, we are one tank down, spread out all over the map, and my fellow Heavys are stuck uselessly trying to fight the red campers at their spawn. No tier IX tank can fight an entire team by itself, and it’s all over pretty quickly.

At this rate, it’ll take 200 more battles to get the 60TP.

Next game on Hellas is even worse. I fire six shots that all miss or bounce, The red team drive straight through our flank, and we end up losing by 6000 damage. The third game we win by dumb luck.

But ye, it’s the start of the night shift. Business as usual. Fourth game our 60TP goes it’s own way on Normandy, and I’m soon down to a glorious 25% winrate. That doesn’t last. Ten games in I am down to 20% wins, and it’s getting tiresome. Seeing a lot of tier X games, and there are at least three 60TP in every one of them. It’s tempting to call it a night and hope things will pick up in the morning.

A few things I feel like I learned, however. The armour does work if you use it properly, meaning hull down, juking, and proper angling. I’ve not seen the armour layout in Armour Inspector, but I have a feeling when you try to facehug people, they will be able to aim down at either your flattened out front plate or your driver’s hatch weakspot.

The gun can be really derpy. I’m having a little trouble putting out damage, but I think that’s down to circumstance rather than deficiencies. Like the previous tank, the 50TP feels powerful. I’m not trying to write the definitive word on Polish Heavy tanks here, just my initial impressions, and they have been… well, ambiguous. I don’t remember struggling like this in the Swedish Heavys, or the Yoh tanks, not to mention the ST-I when I grinded out the IS-4. Is the Tyszkiewicza really all that different?

But in spite of everything, so far I have to say I like these tanks. I still haven’t driven the tier VI, but I like the look of it. I enjoyed the tier VII and mean to drive it more. The tier VIII was a pleasant surprise, and the tier IX is a great drive in spite of my struggles with it.

Looking ahead, I know I’m going to like the 60TP as well because I drove it in testing. It’s been slightly adjusted since then, but it’s still the same general idea, and I like that idea. I’m not sure I’ll end up driving it all that much; I am a Medium driver at heart after all, and my favourite tier X Heavy is the WZ-111 5A. But I do drive my IS-4 a little, and the Lewandowskiego is nowhere near as generic.

So I have to say I think the “grind”, by which I mean throwing hoarded free XP and gold at the tanks, has been well worth it. The Polish Heavy line is solid, there’s no doubt about that.

What if you don’t have a great hoard of resources? Should you consider the Polish Heavy grind anyway?

Yes, definitely consider it. The tier VI may seem uninspiring, and the tier VII might not be that much of an upgrade, but they are classic Heavy tanks that do Heavy tank things, and when you get to tier VIII, you’ll start feeling the power of these tanks.

Sure, the 53TP has a definite touch of IS-spam, but as far as 122 MM tier VIII Heavys go, this is one of the better ones. You’ll have just about the same weapon the “King of IS-spam” 252u has; in fact it’s a little better. Aimtime is quicker, and you have two more degrees of gun depression, plus you don’t have to deal with a pike nose. Oh, and the 53TP is faster and more powerful, although it’s a bigger target. It is quite simply a tech tree tank that compares very favourably to the best IS-spam premium tank in the game.

At tiers IX and X you’ll get the big guns; 130 and 152 mm respectively (It’s actually 152.4 mm). This alone should make you take note. The only real comparison is the E100 and the VK 72.01(K), both with 640 alpha and better dispersion, but the 60TP is faster, more powerful, turns quicker, and has a thicker turret face. Also, compared to those big behemoths, the 60TP looks positively svelte.

If you absolutely must have those 40 extra damage, then the choice is clear. But if you just want a big gun on a Heavy tank, I think the Lewandowskiego is the most interesting proposition of the three, and remember it has tungsten shells that can bump up your alpha damage intermittently. I may get a VK 72 some day; I always kind of liked it, but I really like the 60TP, and I can’t wait to add one to my collection. Got the camo picked out and everything.

So was the Polish Heavy line worth waiting for? Is the hype for real?

In a word: yes. IrmBecx says get in on the action before people start murmuring about Polish bias being a thing.

I couldn’t leave it alone, so I drove a few more tier IX games on the night shift. I had the idea I might try some of those new fangled consumables, there’s been a lot of talk about the tungsten shells already. Since I drive myself into plenty of trouble already, maybe it’s not a bad idea giving the speed boost a rest.

And I don’t think it helped me win more, but I hit a few nice high rolls, and things did go a little better. At present, that’s not saying much; it’s still pretty chaotic out there. But it does sort of prove my feeling was right: the 50TP is a powerful tank, and if you press the button at the right time, those tungsten rounds are really satisfying.

Coming back to it the next day things don’t seem to be picking up a lot; the 50TP gets bullied by the 60TP, and you are almost certain to face one or two of them every game. The tier X is faster, has better armour, and more firepower. But that’s a good thing, no? After I finish the grind, maybe I will get to be the bully?

Trying not to get sour over all my losses, I decide to try the improved gear oil instead of double food like I usually run. That should give me 6 km/h faster top speed with 9% increase in engine power. I’m still running the red can fuel for an extra 10% engine speed and turret turn rate. It certainly wakes the tank up a little, but is it worth it in the long run? I’m always skeptical of improving on bad stats, and now I’m giving up all those little improvements just to go faster, and I just switched out the speed boost for tungsten rounds.

I’m not feeling like I’m getting a huge benefit out of the tungsten, so I go back to the turbo. This is the fastest the Tyszkiewicza will ever be. But the impression I get trying it out is actually that I sort of miss the tier VIII tank; it’s more well rounded, it has a more straightforward armour profile, and if I didn’t think it was such a strange and misleading expression, I’d say the tier 50TP is “stronger in it’s tier.”

More insights? Well, the tier IX is expensive to run if you keep having bad games. You can easily spend 25.000 credits on consumables and provisions alone, that’s before firing any premium rounds, which, admittedly, I don’t do a lot in my Tyszkiewicza. 25 games in I’m about a third of the way to the coveted 60TP, and the mission turnover is minutes away. That might give me some X3 or X5 certificates, so I should have less than 50 games left.

Doing a bit of due diligence, I log into my press account to drive the little 40TP Habicha. I felt kind of bad for it, because it’s certainly going to be overshadowed by the rest of the line and I think if people have the opportunity, they’ll just free XP past it like I did.

But at present there seems to be quite a few of them out there; I get three or four on each team. The lure of the Lewandowskiego is strong, it seems.

And it is a cool tank. It’s a little boxy; the tier VII already has a more angled armour layout and is easier to use. The 90 mm gun seems to work fine, and I had a couple of good games. Definitely going to finish grinding mine after I get my 60TP.

So this has been my first 24 hours with the Polish Heavy grind. With liberal use of free XP I am now perhaps 50 games away from finishing, and I don’t feel I have a lot more to say. The tanks are good, they really are. Some of them are going to go on to become favourites, unless of course they get nerfed into oblivion. Does anyone remember the WZ-110? It used to plow through enemy teams when it first came out, but now no one drives it anymore. After being nerfed it’s one of the worst performing, least driven Heavy tank in tier VIII.

There has been talk perhaps the new consumables are a little too powerful, so if you are aiming for those high damage max rolls as the be all and end all of your Polish tank grind, you might want to hold off a little. Otherwise just go for it; these tanks are solid.

I’ve not made friends with the tier IX 50TP quite yet, but by the time I had my IS-4, even the ST-I had wormed it’s way into my heart a bit, and I kept it around. I’m hoping I’ll get the hang of this one as well. If things go to plan, I’ll have part 2 of this paper dealing with the 60TP done in a day or two.

Stay safe out there.